Kingwood woman charged with intoxication manslaughter after June 15 accident

Jennifer Summer

Published 11:25 am, Monday, July 7, 2014

The skid marks and a burned portion of the roadway bear mute testimony to a lethal collision that occurred at the intersection of FM 1960 and Farrell Road.

The Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office received numerous calls around 2:30 a.m. on June 15 that an alleged drunk driver had plowed into several cars waiting at the light, killing one of the drivers.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office conducted a thorough investigation into the accident, ultimately deciding to file charges of intoxication manslaughter on 24-year-old Brittney Hempel of Kingwood.

According to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office, the accident occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 15 as several westbound vehicles were waiting for the light to turn green at the intersection of FM 1960 at Farrell Road.

This particular intersection sits in between the City of Humble and Spring and between Cypresswood Drive and Aldine-Westfield Road.

“All of the witnesses we interviewed say while they were sitting at the light, a car approached from behind them at a high rate of speed and crashed into the back end of two vehicles,” Daniel Werlinger, assistant district attorney for Harris County, said. “The impact of the crash caused two of the vehicles to slide forward and hit two other vehicles causing the two first cars to become completely engulfed in flames. The witnesses reported they were able to extract one of the drivers from a vehicle on fire but they could not extract the other victim due to the intense flames that consumed her whole car.”

The accident killed 21-year-old Alexia Ardeleanu, a Kingwood High School graduate, who was attending University of North Texas in Denton.

According to the Harris County DA’s office, Hempel reportedly showed signs of intoxication at the scene of the accident and Hempel’s initial blood alcohol content was .27, more than three times the legal limit of .08.

“Hempel was initially arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated with a BAC greater than .15 and we informed the judge about our investigation into the accident,” Werlinger said. “The judge gave [Hempel] the same bail of $30,000 and conditions of bond that a person facing the felony charges of intoxication manslaughter would have. We needed to have the time to process all of the evidence, double check our findings and complete the accident reconstruction in order to properly charge Hempel with felony intoxication manslaughter.”

This accident continues to be an ongoing investigation through the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Hempel was officially charged with felony intoxication manslaughter on July 2 and is expected back in front of a judge on Aug. 11.